Hitting coach Greg Walker knows better than to challenge manager Ozzie Guillen to a war of words.
“I’m doggone not going to get into a talking contest with him,” Walker said Wednesday during batting practice. “He’s better at it than I am. He practices a lot more than I do. There’s no doubt in my mind Ozzie Guillen wants the White Sox to win, and if you go ask him, I guarantee there’s no doubt in his mind he knows I want them to win.
“I’m going to be working, and he’s going to be working.”
Guillen, however, repeated it’s only natural for position coaches to accept blame if their pupils aren’t performing.
“He’s upset?” Guillen responded to a reporter’s inquiry. “He has to wear it. I can’t do anything about it. I made a lot of people upset Sunday. Wow! I made my whole family upset Sunday. If Walker feels that way about that … I’m sorry. This is my job. Nobody in this organization protects Greg Walker more than Ozzie Guillen.
“Two years ago, all you guys asked me questions about Greg Walker every day. And what was my answer? He’s my man, I believe in him. The only thing I said, if one guy wasn’t doing his job, well, if Greg Walker recalls I said that so he wouldn’t be fired … he wouldn’t be here with us right now. I’m not a hypocrite. I see him work, I see him talk to his players, I see the way he is.”
Guillen said Walker doesn’t have any pressure on him and “nobody mentioned his job was on the line.”
Walker was more animated in his support of his batters.
“If they miss from not trying too hard, I have a problem and I have no problem telling them that,” Walker said. “But I didn’t see that from our guys.
“It’s my job to get them to loosen up and turn home field into an advantage. Let’s go play our style of baseball and have some fun. We are in first place.”
Some tension still exists, and it was evident after Walker was asked whether he had spoken with Guillen.
“I’m working,” Walker said while turning to the batting cage. “That’s all I’m doing. That’s all I’ve got.”
